


so many dreams swinging out of the blue

by mikotoh



Series: ive been down on my knees, and you just keep on getting closer [4]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: 80's Music, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Mild Language, No Smut, Skating, Song Lyrics, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, roller skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikotoh/pseuds/mikotoh
Summary: Arthur takes John roller skating.
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Series: ive been down on my knees, and you just keep on getting closer [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874416
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	so many dreams swinging out of the blue

**Author's Note:**

> i had this rated as g but then i forgot about the joke john makes about his ass so

When Arthur said he wanted to take John someplace different tonight, where they went to was literally the last thing he would have ever thought of.

Frankly John didn't even think roller rinks existed anymore. But here they were, sitting on the sidelines and lacing up the skates they'd rented. 

Arthur seemed unusually excited about this, and John didn't quite understand why. But he didn't want to damper the mood so he held his tongue.

That is, until the older man held out a hand for him to take, which John did as he stood up- before promptly falling forward into Arthur's arms.

"Gah!"

Arthur just laughed as John held onto his shirt with a vice-like grip.

"Been a few years, huh?"

John stared at him in disbelief, wobbling in place with a frown.

"Arthur, I've never skated before. Ever."

He watched the expression drop from Arthur's face, replaced by one of confusion and mild panic.

"You… You haven't?"

"No! What makes you think I had?!"

Arthur could feel his cheeks burning bright red then.

"You… The other day, you had those shoes on… with the little wheels…"

"My _Heelys?!"_

John gave Arhur an incredulous look before glancing back at the rink.

And then, he burst into laughter.

A _lot_ of laughter. To the point that he started wheezing as he held onto Arthur for dear life. 

Arthur hadn't thought it was even _possible_ for John Marston to have a laughing fit, and the sound of him snorting and gasping for air made the older man quickly forget the embarrassment he was feeling just a moment ago as a smile crept onto his face.

"Alright, alright, I get it. It was an honest mistake!"

Arthur encircled John in his arms and pulled him against his chest as the other man got the last few giggles out of his system.

"Oh my _God,_ you're such an old man!"

"Shut up. I ain't got a problem with dropping you on your ass right here, you know."

John just grinned in return.

"Yeah, but me busting my ass isn't very good news for _you_ either, is it?"

"Shhh, we're in public, you idiot."

Fortunately for the two of them it was in the afternoon during the middle of the week, so there were only a handful of people in the entire place. Which meant that they had plenty of the rink to themselves- if not the whole thing whenever the other guests left to go get food or play at the arcade.

John fell a lot at first, and it definitely hurt more than a couple of times. But, slowly but surely, he was getting the hang of it.

Of course he was gripping down on Arthur's hand so hard it had started to go numb, but he didn't mind. He smirked at the younger man as they wheeled around a corner, John just barely managing to keep his balance.

"Well, lookatchu. I'd almost say you're a natural."

John looked up from concentrating on the floor ahead of him and returned the smirk.

"And you're lucky I am, otherwise this'd be a terrible date!"

"Aw, c'mon, I coulda thought of a backup plan if I needed to."

"Sure, whatever."

Over the intercom the DJ announced that the next song was couples only, and politely encouraged everyone else to leave the floor. Soon enough it was just them and two other duos skating as a slow 80's pop song started playing through the speakers.

_Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while_

_Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies_

_Hoping for the best but expecting the worst_

_Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?_

Arhur turned around and carefully pulled John closer with an arm around his waist. The younger man struggled for a second to stay upright but eventually managed to wrap one of his own arms around Arthur's shoulders.

_Let us die young or let us live forever_

_We don't have the power but we never say never_

_Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip_

_The music's for the sad men_

Beside them their free hands clasped together, and Arthur started skating backwards while twirling John in place at the same time.

_Can you imagine when this race is won?_

_Turn our golden faces into the sun_

_Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune_

_The music's played by the, the mad man_

"I'm starting to think you're too good at this, honestly."

Arthur watched John's eyes with a laugh.

"Nah… Just have a lot of practice. When I was little my dad would take me to the rink on the weekends. I'm sure it was only 'cause he wanted to skate, but I ended up learning how to anyway from a young age."

But then Arthur could see John tense up as he looked away.

"... Sounds nice."

Arthur frowned and squeezed the hand on John's waist gently.

"... Listen, I've been meaning to ask you something…"

John met Arthur's gaze with wide eyes.

"Yeah?"

Arthur took in a deep breath and gripped on tighter to John's hand.

"... Can we... be a thing? I… I don't know about you, but… well. Before we met, I… I always kept liking other men a secret. But now, with you… it don't bother me none. And… And I wanna believe that means there's something different about us."

John's cheeks started to flush bright red as he tried to stammer out a reply.

"Like… you wanna be a couple?"

Arthur nodded, starting to get anxious as he waited for his response.

"Arthur, I… I can't believe you want me like that."

"Why?"

"I mean… If you do… I come with a lot of baggage."

"So do I. I don't mind."

John looked Arthur in the eyes then, before biting his lip and staring down at the floor.

After thinking to himself for a second he turned to face Arthur again, a stupid grin starting to spread across his face.

"Arthur Morgan, asking me to go steady at the roller rink. I'm the luckiest teenage girl there is."

With that he leaned in and pressed their lips together.

It was… magical, really. The two of them holding onto each other as they skated together in the dim, colorful lights was like something out of one of those old coming of age movies- complete with cheesy 80's pop playing in the background.

That is, until Arthur was distracted just long enough for one of his feet to slip and send him crashing down to the floor, pulling John along with him.

"Shit!"

Arthur landed on his back with a thud, groaning in pain. John ended up face down next to him, but oddly enough he once again started laughing instead of getting angry, as was usually expected from the short-tempered man.

"Haha! There, now we're even!"

"Even?! You fell down about twenty times!"

"Still, I was hoping you'd go down at least once!"

"You know, you're already making me regret becoming your boyfriend, and it hasn't even been a minute yet."

John just kept on smiling as he scrambled to his feet, holding out his hand for Arthur to pull himself up.

"Is that a new record, then?"

Once he was back upright Arthur let out a deep sigh before returning the smile.

"I s'pose it is."

_Forever young, I want to be forever young_

_Do you really want to live forever?_

_Forever, and ever_

_Forever young, I want to be forever young_

_Do you really want to live forever?_

_Forever young_

**Author's Note:**

> this is 100% inspired by this scene from always sunny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELuiPDrWHI
> 
> (i also realized after the fact i may have been subconsiously channeling this scene from psych as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSkjDnvwQg that ep introduced me to space age love song which is another wonderful 80s bop lmao)
> 
> and yes, (one of) arthurs dad(s) is dutch.
> 
> title is from, you guessed it, the song forever young by alphaville


End file.
